The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless communication systems, and specifically to a system architecture for connecting a plurality of private wireless communication systems to a public wireless communication system.
The wireless communications industry has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years. As public wireless communications systems continue to expand their coverage areas and communications handling capacity, wireless communication in public spaces has become ubiquitous.
Along with the growth of public wireless communications systems, private wireless communications systems, generally limited in geographic coverage, have also proliferated. A private wireless communications system may, for example, be a Private Wireless Office System (PWOS), typically deployed within a specific building or group of buildings, providing wireless communications services to employees, contractors, and other specified individuals, each of whom is registered with the private wireless communications system. Private wireless communications systems are attractive adjuncts toxe2x80x94and in many cases may supersedexe2x80x94traditional desktop telephone systems. The wireless systems increase the efficiency of communications, as individuals may be accessed even when they are not within specific xe2x80x9cassignedxe2x80x9d locations, such as offices.
In many cases, a plurality of private wireless communications systems may experience significant interaction with each other, and additionally with one or more public wireless communications systems. For example, a university or corporate campus may comprise many individual buildings, each of which is serviced by a separate private wireless communications system. Common areas, such as grounds and parking areas between and surrounding the buildings and the sports arena, and additionally the surrounding metropolitan area, may be covered by a public wireless communications system.
Ideally, a given user would be able to move seamlessly around on the campus, passing in and out of the range of the various public and private wireless communications systems, and maintain constant coverage and access to all wireless communications services. Under the usage models and network topologies of private wireless communications systems as currently deployed, the user is typically registered with one private wireless communications system as his xe2x80x9chomexe2x80x9d system. Accessing services within other private wireless communications systems is known as xe2x80x9croamingxe2x80x9d and requires that the user either be registered with the other private wireless communications systems, or that administrative communication be directed to the user""s home system for authorization. Each of the private wireless communications systems are connected to the public wireless communications system through a gateway within the public system, requiring that each private system be assigned a separate network address. Additionally, each private wireless communications system is separately maintained, requiring extensive overhead in network administration, as many tasks are duplicative.
The present invention comprises a method of linking a plurality of private wireless communications systems to a public wireless communications system. The method comprises routing all communications through a common administrative node, and performing network administration on the private wireless communications systems through the common administrative node. A communications link is established between the administrative node and the public wireless communications system, where the link is assigned a single network address. A communications link is also established between the common administrative node and each of the private wireless communications systems. All communications are routed between the private wireless communications systems and the public wireless communications system through the common administrative node. The common administrative node includes a shared user database containing information associated with each user of each private wireless communications system. The common administrative node also includes an administrative interface and a shared system and configuration database for the performance of network administration functions on each of the private wireless communications systems.